Governor Fallin Pledges Help To Tulsans Hit By Tornado

A one mile-stretch of midtown Tulsa hardest hit by Sunday's EF-2 tornado, is back open Tuesday evening. A lot of progress has been made, but clean-up in the area of 41st Street between Yale and Sheridan is going to take a long time.

Governor Mary Fallin saw the damage first hand during her visit. She's praising the fast response of emergency workers and pledging the state's assistance to those who need it.

The governor toured businesses along 41st Street before making her way to an industrial area where all of the buildings suffered damage. 

Governor Mary Fallin met with general manager Tammy Stokes of Oklahoma Disaster Restoration.  Normally the ones to call when a tornado hits - now needing help themselves.

Governor Mary Fallin: "So your employees are still out working as much as possible?"  
Tammy Stokes: "Absolutely."
Governor Mary Fallin: "Even though you've had damage yourself, and you're a disaster restoration company."
Tammy Stokes: "Absolutely. But it's still hard."
Governor Mary Fallin: "Sure it is."
Tammy Stokes: "You can see the debris from all of our neighbors and how much we've cleaned up."  

Fallin praised the emergency responders for helping those in need and the quick response from the power companies to get the lights back on. 

"We got great trained people who know what to do, and I saw that when I went in to your Tulsa command center," the governor said.

Thankful there was no loss life.

8/8/2017 Related Story: Governor Mary Fallin Tours Tulsa Tornado Damage

"We sure could have had loss of life, with the suddenness of the storm, the unexpected, in the middle of the night the storm that came up," she said.

While keeping those injured in mind as they continue to deal with the aftermath of Sunday's tornado.

"And we'll keep those who had injuries in our prayers and in our thoughts as we continue through this." 

Pledging state and federal assistance to those in need.

"You take care of yourself; we're here to see what you need and we'll be working on our federal assistance, FEMA or SBA loans, or any type of employee help we can get from the federal government," Fallin said.

Governor Fallin said the Insurance Commissioner and the Emergency Management Director will have workers in Tulsa to continue to monitor the clean-up and repairs - listening to the needs of the community and seeing where the state can step in to help with the recovery.  

8/8/2017 Related Story: Tulsa Employees Not Allowed Inside Tornado Damaged Buildings